Group picture with program coordinator Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nooreiny Maarof.

Partner in crime that night - Ain. ;-)

Roomie - Valentine Ambun

C4's dancer owning the stage...and the crowd as well! Proud of you people!

Again with Shafiq da' photographer!

Nik: C4's self-proclaimed Maharaja! Lolz!

With Zainal a.k.a Jenal...

With Menn da' choreographer...

Glad everything went well that night. I was trembling but eventually managed to gain composure and continue my job that night. Ain't easy but it's definitely a wonderful experience. For lighting purpose, I had to be made-up. Gosh! I felt like I had a facelift procedure or botox injected into my skin. Lol! Kinda difficult to smile (and I had to smile throughout the whole event)...

I didn't get to enjoy the tantalizing food *sigh*. Anyhow, I've expected that thing to happen as I experienced that before. That's the thing about being an emcee I guess. Well, never mind. The thought and experience that matter the most.

It's a wrap! I finally have time to rest. I mean like seriously. I need enough time to recuperate from the exhaustion. I've been through a series of sleepless night. That clearly explained the eye-bags! Urgh!

I received two phone calls today - from both mom and dad. This never happened before; I mean, the two of them called me on the same day at alternate times. Nevertheless, at moment like this I really appreciate those phone calls. It's as good as receiving hugs from both mom and dad. Though separated by the South China Sea, they somehow able to sense something's not right with their son lately.

Mom: Ko ok kaini? (Are you ok?)

Dad: Napa mcm lain ja ko ni ari ni?(You seemed different today)

Thanks mom and dad for the concern but I'm just gonna be fine. No worries.

At the moment, my coursemates and I are busy with our upcoming dramatization and a dinner function for the final year students. Rehearsals/practices are getting more frequent as the D-days are getting closer. It's really stressful and tiring but we've got to go through everything eventually. So, there's no point of complaining.

Few weeks ago, a friend of mine approached and asked me whether I wanted to take the emcee job for the coming event (i.e. Malam Ambang Graduan). I was quite reluctant initially but decided to volunteer myself as the committee desperately needed persons for the slot. I took the offer as I would be working with my own coursemate. So, the chemistry is there. No sense of awkwardness.

There's nothing glamorous about being an emcee. That's my personal thought. As a matter of fact, it is quite a stressful job as it is part of the emcee's responsibility to ensure the smoothness of the event and even to make it lively - not mundane. Stressful eh? Anyhow, this time around I'll be emcee-ing in Bahasa Melayu in a major event. Wait a sec. This is going to be my first ever major event. An event with lots of VVIPs. *Stress level rises*

The first rehearsal went not really well. I've been stopped so many times and mostly because of my stress and intonation! Little did I know my stress and intonation in Bahasa Melayu sucks! I was told I can't even read out the 'pantun' well. I was like...what the heck? That bad? I've got to work on this as the event is just around the corner. Next week to be exact. Oh-my! There'll be more rehearsals after this. So, I've got to polish up as much as possible within the little time frame.

All of the above have messed up my sleeping pattern. I mean like seriously. Recently, I've started the habit of taking nap at odd hours. It's like the whole system is messing up. I frequently feel tired and sleepy. It's not that I don't have enough sleep but I somehow feel the urge to nap/sleep and body feels weak.

I just can't wait to get this thing over. I need to be 'normal' again! I kinda miss those carefree times earlier this semester in which I've got the chance to hang out with friends at any place. It's like I've been sort of like 'abandoning' or should I say 'neglecting' my other friends for not being able to spend time with them. I even feel sorry to the girlfriend as I'm too busy with all sort of things till the extent that I've no time to even give her a call or even send text messages. Sorry babe. I'm really sorry. I love you.

I know. It's been a while since I posted my last entry in this not-so-famous blog of mine. I don't know how many times I have repeated this: I just don't have anything interesting to be shared lately apart from being busy with my life as final year student. Well, not that busy actually. It's just that I'm currently busy with the upcoming major dramatization (requirement of a course) and of course, assignments.

Things are getting pretty intense these few days. I'm talking about the group's major production. The big day is approaching and everything needs to be put in the right place as soon as possible to ensure the smoothness of the performance. In the process of doing so, few "frictions" inflicted - drama within the drama itself. Arguments here and there, dissatisfaction arises, people smirk, some even bombard others with sarcastic remarks and the list goes on. I won't describe all the details here as it is not my utmost intention to make a big hoo-ha about the whole thing and let everybody in the cyberspace knows about it. I would say, let bygones be bygones. The focus should be on the actual drama itself and I personally think this whole drama within the drama would eventually become a source of laughter as it dredges up the memories years later.

It's already the 25th day of the month of March and that means, I only have approximately one more month here in this campus as undergrad student. I'll be leaving this place soon and going back to my hometown for good. As cliche as it sounds, time really flies and it's been 6 years I've been spending most of my time away from home for my studies. Yes, 6 years. Thanks to the extra 2 years of foundation program otherwise, I would have graduated by now. Most of my friends (of the same batch) have already started working and even settled down. Whenever I come back to my hometown and meeting up with friends, the common of topic of discussion would be about the lifestyle as working adult. Since I haven't started working yet, I usually become the one who just listen. I have nothing to share. My time will arrive soon and listening to their rants and ramblings about the daily lives makes me wanting to make full use of my time as student. It's going to be a whole different situation once I started working. So, the bottom line is: I ought to cherish every moment of my campus life.

All in all, it's been 6 years and I can confidently say I've gone through many kind of experiences. I stumbled and fell but I got up right away as life has to move on. I shared laughter and some tears along the way but that what make me a person. I've made mistakes and I learned from it. Some people might feel comfortable to be with me and some don't. That's the truth. I can't afford to please each and every one in this world. The best thing I can do is try to be nice (with sincerity) with everyone and not become a two-faced person.

Some people are meant to be part of our life for lifetime and some for only for certain period of time - friends come and go. Metaphorically, I would describe everyone that comes into my life as a tree.

Some are like the leaves. When the wind blows, they will be scattered everywhere. As time goes by, they will wither and eventually die - gone. That's fine because most people are like that in such a way that they're not permanently there to do anything but to take from the tree and provide shade every now and then. That's all they can afford to do. We can't afford to be mad to such kind of people as we have no right to judge them. That's just them.

Some even like a branch of a tree. We ought to be careful with those branches as well because we might not know when they will fool us. Such people will make us think they're good friend and strong up to the extent that we put our trust on them but eventually they'll break and leave us high and dry.

Nevertheless, we are not that doomed. We're blessed with some people who are like the roots down at the bottom and provide support. These are the people that are not going anywhere. Just like the roots, they are not worried about being seen, nobody has to know that they know you, they don't have to know what they're doing for you but if those roots weren't there, a tree couldn't live. A tree can have lots of branches but it only takes few roots down at the bottom to make sure that tree gets everything it needs.

When I think about this kind of analogy, it struck deep within me. As I mentioned earlier, there are people who come in and out of our life and some pain inflicted along the way. There are more people we are going to meet; some will only turn out to be leaves and branches but we all have to cherish the ones who are like the roots. These are the people who know us through and through; it could be anyone.

Here I am again. Still recuperating from extreme fatigue of the 6-hour journey from Penang. Wait a sec. I shall include the other 6 hours travel from Bangi to Penang. That makes it 12 hours! Ni kali la!

Some of you might be wondering. What is this journey I speak of? Well, I'm talking about my journey to USM Penang to attend the annual event called Malam Citra Bayu. It was an event organised by Perkumpulan Siswa Siswi Sabah (PERSIS) of USM. In UKM, we called it Persatuan Mahasiswa Sabah (PERMIS). The main highlight of the event was the inter-varsity dance competition in which it showcased the variety of dances of the Sabahans.

I was not part of the dancing team even though I was asked to join the male dancers for several times *wink*. I was there to support them. Yes. As a supporter.

The journey to USM commenced on the 5th March around 12 midnight. We use the UKM bus and I was told that this time around we were lucky enough to get a bus from the university. Unlike the previous years, the team had to arrange their own transportation i.e. rent a bus from outside the campus. Sad but true. Anyway, since the journey was during midnight, there was nothing much to be seen throughout the journey. Most of the time, I slept, Facebook-ing and Tweeting through my iPhone. The bus stopped for half an hour at Tapah R&R and I went down and grab myself a cup of teh tarik. Then, the journey continued again.

We finally arrived at USM around 6.30 in the morning. We could've arrived earlier but the bus driver took the wrong turn. The first thing the whole team did upon arrival was checking-in to the room. We stayed at a residential college called Desasiswa Tekun. I kinda like the concept of the residential college in USM. It looked like an apartment fully equipped with elevators. The room was also much more spacious than the ones in UKM *envy mode*.

I was extremely sleepy because I can't sleep well in the bus. I wasn't able to stretch my legs and the seat can't be reclined to my preferred position! As soon as I entered the room the first thing I did was to charge my phone's battery then I landed myself on the bed. At around 7-something, Carl went to the room and asked for a favour. I was still on sluggish mode at that time and I agreed upon the request. I forced myself to wake up at 8.30 because I was told that the team had to be at the hall for rehearsal. That was the time when I realized about the requested favour. I was asked to help the team with the technical part (i.e. lighting & sound)! Being a complete noob in that particular area, I was lucky enough to be able to collaborate with Chester.

The full rehearsal started around 11 in the morning and mind you, we just arrived approximately 4 hours ago. I was still sleepy but I had no choice than to force myself to focus on the technical aspect. Once the rehearsal session ended, the whole team went for lunch. It was not far. Just outside the campus. We opted for Nasi Kandar since we're in Penang! Then we rushed back to the room to get our stuff.

I won't describe the whole event in detail but one thing for sure, kudos should be given to the organising team as the program was truly a success! The hall was packed with people! Majority of the audience was Sabahan. Some were Sarawakians and people from the Peninsular. I saw few foreign students as well! I was amazed by how they managed to publicized the event. I wonder if UKM could some time in the future organise this kind of event...

Once the event ended and winners were announced, we hopped into the bus and left for UKM. Another 6-hour journey *sigh*. During the journey, everyone in the bus was complaining about the air-cond. Sometime in the middle of the journey, the bus' air-cond started to malfunction and loud noise was heard from the rear side of the bus. After a while, we continued the journey back to campus. This time around the loud noise was completely gone but the air-cond was still not functioning well. I was sweating like a pig! At last, at about 7.30 in the morning, we arrived at UKM. Once I arrived at the hostel, I rushed to shower room and scrub myself. Luckily, I had no class earlier today so I slept till noon.

Nevertheless, I had so much fun in Penang with the whole team! I felt like home for a while.

Oh! Here's the overall result of MCB 2011:

Best costume: UM

Consolations: UUM, UiTM, UPSI, UKM

3rd place: USM

2nd place: UM

1st place: UPM

Team UKM

*photo grabbed from FB ^_^ *

p/s: To the dancers, although UKM didn't place this year, you guys had amazingly performed well on that night. Obviously, the audience was extremely ecstatic with the choreograph. You guys owned the stage and the audience as well!!

Just so you know, MEDiK has nothing to do with medical field and whatnot. It is an acronym for Malam Eksekutif Dinner Kajai. Wow! Mouthful don't you think? MEDiK is a dinner function organised by my residential college (Kolej Rahim Kajai).

Anyway, the function was held last night at DECTAR (Dewan Canselori Tun Abdul Razak UKM) and I decided to attend it together with my other 6 coursemates. Initially, I was not keen to attend the dinner due to the experience my friends and I had in the previous year. Last year, the food was insufficient for all of us seated at the table and to make it even worse, the drink was only served once! Yes. Throughout the dinner we had only a glass of cordial drink! That clearly explained my initial reluctance to attend the function. Such a spoiler eh?

However, I changed my mind. I attended the function anyway. All final students were seated at the front rows - behind the high table. Oh! I forgot to tell you. This year's theme was "Masquerade versus Rock Star Night". Since the word 'versus' was there, I guessed everyone had the chance to pick which theme to follow. It's either Masquerade or Rock Star. I opted for Rock Star because I was not really into Masquerade thingy. Besides, I didn't have the chance to look for a friggin' mask! So, Rock Star was chosen. When I opened my wardrobe, I realized one thing. I didn't have anything to wear to suit the theme. Dang! My last resort was to "recycle" my attire from the previous function I attended.

Anyway, I attended the dinner and this time around the food was more than sufficient for all of us. We ate till our hearts content and we also had our drinks refilled for few times! =) Honestly, I didn't really pay much attention to the performance on the stage throughout the function. As far as I can recall, I only remembered the ballroom dance performances (they performed 3 times on that night! I was like...whatthe?), the beatbox showcase, performance by the Glee wannabies, and also performance by the guest artist (a band whom they called themselves PESAWAT). I went back to my room with protruding tummy! *burp*